This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 271

Ellie’s Knowledge

Ellie could only give a dry smile to herself. Without Professor Lucien, Professor Medik was like a verbal bomb that could depress anyone. However, Professor Medik’s words were not wrong, so Professor Regan didn’t correct him. He merely asked him to stop the frightening rhetoric.

Everyone thought Nara would be silenced by such harsh reprimand, but they underestimated her tenacity. Instead of backing down, she became even more defiant.

“It’s precisely because of these unjust punishments that I feel it’s wrong. I and the villagers didn’t choose to be born poor and without the status of being a young lady from a high-ranking family. We can’t even choose who our parents are or what family we belong to. And then, we’re judged and made to bow our heads because of it. How is that fair?” Nara retorted.

“Where did you get this notion that we can’t choose our birth? You’re planning to become a priestess in a few years, yet you speak against the heavens like this. Aren’t you afraid that the church might not only refuse you but also punish you by dismembering you with 5 horses?” Professor Regan didn’t wait for Medik to start talking about the brutal punishments the church could impose for people who vehemently opposed their beliefs.

Nara was momentarily stunned. Indeed! She felt she was being treated unfairly. If she were called a “duchess” and others had to bow to her, it wouldn’t matter. But being the one who had to bow, she felt it was unjust. However, Nara had never studied the teachings of the church seriously. How was she supposed to know about such beliefs?

Seeing Nara’s confusion, Regan looked around and pointed at Ellie, who had been quietly observing the situation from start to finish.

“As you are still a scholarship student, I’d like you to explain these basic principles to Scholarship Student Nara,” Professor Regan tasked Ellie, who did not refuse.

“What the professor mentioned is likely the rules set for those who join the church, or in other words, priests and saints. I’ve only read through it briefly since I didn’t think I’d have much to do with the church. However, I do know that their most important belief is “the law of divine selection”,” Ellie explained calmly. Her words were confirmed correct by Professor Regan’s approving demeanor.

“Then what is the law of divine selection? Explain it in detail so that Scholarship Student Nara might understand better.”

“Yes, Professor. The law of divine selection is a belief held by priests. They believe that priests are chosen from the beginning. Everything about their birth—name, bloodline, powers—has been tested by the gods. So, the law of divine selection demonstrates that how each human is born into a life is a result of these tests.”

“For the priests with great light magic power, they claim that they have passed the tests of the gods. It’s not a coincidence that they are born with great power. This is not just random chance,” Ellie said. Nara’s brow furrowed deeply. She knew that everything Ellie said contradicted her earlier thoughts.

Nara felt deeply dissatisfied, but what could she say? This was what all the priests believed. Did that mean that when she became a priestess, she would have to believe this too? That she didn’t pass the divine test, so she was just a lowly priestess? While Ellie, who she considered foolish, passed the test and became a duchess? This...How could she possibly accept that?!!

Naturally, Nara felt it was unfair because she was too greedy. The belief of the priests was created to distinguish themselves from those ordinary people who were "lucky" or "coincidental." To make themselves appear superior, they claimed that God tested everyone equally, and that everyone had the same starting point, but only they were chosen.

Without this, everyone with light magic power would have the same value as the priests. In order not to destroy the faith, this belief was created for the priests themselves. Unfortunately, Nara wasn’t satisfied with just this.

"Scholarship Student Ellie is correct. The reason I asked her to explain is to show you something. Despite being a botanic elemental student, she has studied other fields as well. Many of you have seen her accomplishments in the recent war. She used numerous stratagems to defeat hundreds of enemies and bought enough time until she received help."

"All of this is due to her extensive knowledge. Initially, I was surprised when Scholarship Student Ellie chose to study in stratagem branch, but after seeing her work, I believe I should follow her example."

"From now on, I will not teach you to focus solely on one area. Some of you may know about the divine selection, but I believe more than half here don’t know it at all. That’s because you think you will never become priests and don’t need to learn about their beliefs, right?"

"But without this knowledge, what will you do if you encounter heretical priests extorting your townsfolk? Maybe...you yourselves might think their claims are true and end up donating a lot unnecessarily."

Professor Regan, unlike Professor Medik, who had a bias against Nara, overlooked Nara’s ignorance about herself and attempt to meddle in other people’s matters. He shifted the topic to teach the other students instead, sparing Nara from further embarrassment and providing a lesson for others.

Nara gritted her teeth in frustration. Afterwards, she couldn’t say anything anymore, and had no choice but to study more about the church and priests. Otherwise, Ellie would look down on her again.

Nara believed Ellie learned about the priests not out of genuine interest but to undermine her. However, Ellie, who was misunderstood, was truly indifferent to Nara’s thoughts. Whatever Nara thought of doing, she simply ignored and let her continue to be distracted, focusing on living her second life well.

"Now, let’s get to the important part. Please listen carefully as it concerns the missions you will be undertaking." Professor Regan looked around and saw no further resistance, then nodded and continued.

"Since all years are tasked with managing areas in Erel City, the institute has divided each year’s work according to difficulty. Second-year students will be overseen by Professor Medik and me. This means you’ll be split into 2 groups. You have 10 minutes to form your groups without being forced to team up with anyone specific."

Professor Regan waved his hand to signal everyone to move. Many students made noise calling their friends to join their group. Vida, Aria, Ellie, and Wint were already together, while other students quickly formed their own groups. Seeing that the upcoming mission would involve helping villagers, Nara saw an opportunity to undermine Vida, the other noble ladies, and Ellie. Thus, she slyly joined the group that included Vida and Ellie.

Once the groups were formed, Professors Medik and Regan exchanged looks. Professor Medik had already requested to be in the same group as his student. Although Regan was slightly regretful, he understood why Medik made this request. There would soon be competition between institutes. With the Ares Kingdom being preoccupied with the war, many students had not received adequate training. It was not surprising that Professor Medik was concerned about his student’s potion-concocting skills.

However, Regan was unaware that Professor Medik didn’t think so. The beautiful professor was only worried about his student. After seeing Ellie in dangerous situations, Medik felt a deep sense of regret and worry about almost losing his only student. He was determined to follow and protect her by himself, ensuring nothing happened to her before she became his assistant!

“Now that the groups are formed, I’ll explain the mission for the first group. The first group will be under the supervision of Professor Medik. You will be assigned to the 4th village from the town market, known as the Village of the Windy Chasm because of the constant strong winds there.”

“The main issue is that they require many strong men to move the numerous stones that the wind causes to fall. Since their village is in a chasm, this problem occurs frequently. Your task is to help them resolve this issue permanently. The institute has provided you with 10 tools. They were magical devices that reduce the impact of the wind currents. Once these are installed around the area, the stones will no longer fall into the chasm for a long time.”

“This group includes 2 students from the Stratagem Branch, so installation should not be a problem. However...while the 2 students are setting up the devices, they might encounter beasts in the area. Other students must protect them and help manage the stones that have already fallen.”

Professor Regan looked at the first group, which included both Ellie and Nadia. After consulting with Professor Nico, who assured him with a proud smile that the two students would handle the task well, Regan felt reassured when the two grouped together.

At least the installation of the stratagems wouldn’t be something that everyone could do proficiently; otherwise, there would be no need to hire stratagem specialists...

"The second group of students will go to the fifth village, which is not far from the fourth village. The village we will be overseeing is at the end of the waterfall stream that flows through the Village of the Windy Chasm. Since it’s at the end of the stream, the current problem they are facing is a water source issue because the path of the water flow that the 1st group will be handling is blocked by fallen rocks, causing a temporary water shortage for the villagers.

"This is a recurring issue. However, solving the problem in the fourth village will help us as well. But the problem isn’t just there. In fact, the waterfall stream has 2 paths. The first path is blocked, while the second path is further away. The villagers have to risk their lives to go there when there isn’t enough water, encountering many beasts along the way.

"To address this issue, we will widen the water path so that the 2nd stream joins the 1st one. This way, if the 1st stream is blocked, at least water from the 2nd stream will be available. However...we need to dig cautiously and not use excessive force, because if too much water comes from the 2nd stream, it could cause flooding.

"So, we will all need to dig and lay out plans for water release, including setting up water gates. If there is too much water, the villagers can close these gates to prevent the excess water from flowing into the first stream. This 2nd group will work under my guidance, and I will explain more about the situation on-site."

Professor Regan gave a brief explanation, and both groups of students nodded in understanding. However, there was still more information they needed to know.

"Both of these missions are short-term assignments. The institute has allotted only 15 days to solve the problems. If any group fails to complete their mission, points will be deducted from the previous war aid points. But if the mission is successful, they will earn additional points.

"The institute knows that you have spent a lot of time gaining experience from the war, which is sufficient for each year class. Therefore, after this, you will receive enough points so that you won’t have to undertake any more missions. I think this is a fortunate opportunity for all of you. However, despite this...it might turn out to be unfortunate afterwards as well.”

"Once all the missions are completed, the institute will have you spend your time fully engaged in learning at the institute. Students who are my disciples will still need to attend the scheduled training sessions. However, because you have already lost a lot of time due to the war, I believe you will have to meet with your direct mentors almost every day.

"And if you fail this mission, instead of earning enough points to eliminate one problem, you will have to endure both extremely difficult missions and harsh training simultaneously. So, I advise you to consider carefully whether you can afford to treat this mission as just a trivial task."

When Professor Regan set these requirements, all the students couldn’t help but groan. They couldn’t believe how harsh the institute was. Having just come out of a war, they had hoped their professors would reduce their training hours, but instead, their expectations were crushed. It was no wonder they let out groans of frustration.

Only a few students were happy with the idea of not having to do missions outside and spending their time catching up on their studies instead. Nara was one of them. She felt relieved upon hearing the orders. Last year, if it hadn’t been for Professor Lily sending seniors to help and allowing her to cheat by pretending she did the mission alone...it would have been difficult for her to pass the first year.

"I believe everyone understands their missions now. So, today, you can go prepare yourselves. Also...students in my group, I hope no one is late tomorrow. I will not wait for everyone. As soon as the sun rises, we will depart immediately. Any student who is late will be considered to have failed the mission individually."

"Professor Regan, that’s too harsh."

"Exactly, Professor Medik isn’t this harsh."

"Yeah. Please have mercy on us, Professor," many students complained, even bringing up the beautiful Professor Medik.

Medik raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at the students staring at him, and smiled...

"I won’t force you. When everyone is ready, you can depart." Hearing this, the first group of students almost jumped with joy, while the 2nd group looked sullen.

"See, Professor Medik is so kind."

"The kind professor, kind in both face and heart."

"I want to switch groups right now."

"Me too," everyone muttered, feeling it was unfair. At that moment, 1 student from the first group was surprised and raised her hand to ask.

"Professor Medik, what if a student is very late or suddenly falls ill and can only come 3 days later? What will we do then?"

"Hmm? Nothing, we’ll just wait."

"But the mission has a deadline..."

"That’s not my problem, is it? You formed your groups. Go whenever you want. If you’re not ready, don’t leave. If you want to leave, be ready. The hard work is yours to do. I’m just overseeing it. Whether you graduate or not isn’t my concern. It’s even better if my only student focuses more on cultivation and completing the institute’s missions. It’ll reduce my workload a bit..." Medik shrugged indifferently, leaving the students wide-eyed with shock!!

What kind of mindset was this? Was this really the mindset of a kind person? It seemed they were about to face an even tougher test than they had anticipated!!!

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